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Originally Posted by Tim C
I think discussions of a strike zone begin to define umpiring.
Calling balls and strikes is a mixture between art and science.
It would be impossible for an umpire of quality to call the rule book strike zone. Curve balls that catch the front knee and then bounce short of the catcher cannot, in reality, be called strikes. It is not even an "unwritten rule" it is simple fact.
Umpires that advance to higher level baseball (as played by shaving aged players) learn to call balls and strikes that move a game along both quickly and fairly.
We know that how umpires call the plate defines you as an umpire at all levels. Those "great" base umpires have a good time HOWEVER great plate umpires advance up the chain.
As noted previously in this thread my strike zone is in the shape of an egg. That does not mean that it ends in a point it simply means that high inside/outside pitches and low inside/outside pitches are judged with a little stronger detail.
That is all it means.
This FED season my plate games average less than 1:30 -- while baeball is not played by the clock I think this shows that I move games along with good game managment skills and I call STRIKES.
I often intone the following:
"With the exception of Eric Gregg (see other thread) I have never seen an umpire get in trouble for calling too many strikes."
Umpires with conviction call strikes and outs --
While this thread is a wonderful experience in seeing the difference between rule book strikes and real world strikes there is one thing missing:
I don't care how you define a strike. Just make sure that you call each pitch consistently and there will seldom be any problems.
Regards,
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This is a great post especially for a young umpire trying to move up the chain.
Strikes do make a difference in an umpire - and I'm not talking about the union etc.,
Thansk
David